Motel Murder Victims Identified in Court Charging Documents

The Missoula County Attorney’s office has released charging documents against 27 year-old Jonathan Whitworth stating he is allegedly responsible for the shooting deaths of 23 year-old Jason Flink and 31 year-old Megan McLaughlin.

The charging documents state that Whitworth has been charged with two counts of accountability for deliberate homicide, or in the alternative, two counts of deliberate homicide.

Missoula police were called to the Mountain Valley Motel just after 1:00 a.m. on Friday. Upon arrival, officers found Jason Flink and Megan McLaughlin had been shot and were deceased in room 228 at the motel.

A third victim, Kaleb Williams had been shot and was transported to the hospital.

Williams posted his story on Facebook.

‘Just to clear the air because there’s a lot of stories going around. I had no idea what was going on. I go to work every day and when I went to sleep I was the only one there. When I awoke, I was bleeding heavily and this kid saw me and took me out of the room. I laid there on the bed and almost bled to death. As I stared at the ceiling I prayed to God to let me live. Those of you that know me know I’m a man of my word and pride myself in being honest and straightforward. The only person I knew was Megan McLaughlin, God rest her soul.’ (Williams’ comments are his own, and are not part of the official record)

The charging documents continue to state that surveillance from the motel showed a Kelley Tree Service truck pull up to the motel at about 12:46 a.m. At 1:01 a.m. three individuals left room 228 and exited the building. Both males were carrying firearms and the female was running.

Ty Butler was interviewed by officers. He stated that he, Jonathan Whitworth and Preston Rossbach took the Kelley Tree Service Truck into Missoula from Lolo. Ty drove to Wal Mart and picked up an unidentified male and female from the area near Dornblaser Field. They drove to the motel where Whitworth, Rossbach and the female got out of the truck and went around the corner. All three returned to the truck and said ‘he wasn’t there’.

Court documents on Rossbach state that he, Whitworth and the unidentified female visited the motel room and asked if anyone had drugs. They said no. Rossbach stated that before leaving the motel they went back to the room, where Whitworth began shooting. Whitworth first shot a man standing by the window, then a woman by the window and a man on the bed. He stated that Whitworth then had a knife and also stabbed one of the victims.

Ty Butler and Rossbach were located on Mormon Creek Road in Lolo.

Whitworth is scheduled to appear in Missoula Justice Court this afternoon, while Rossbach’s case was sent directly to District Court.